AFTER more than 40 years on the rock’n’roll road, Bruce Springsteen gave Adelaide the Boss we’ve all been waiting for and made up for lost time with a mammoth three-hour-plus, career-spanning set on Tuesday night.

His sold-out show had fans packed into the Entertainment Centre and Springsteen and his legendary E Street Band played their first ever concert here without a backdrop, creating an almost intimate in-the-round show.

Springsteen wasted no time screaming “Adelaide, why is it so f..... hot here” before he and his 17-piece band launched into a rocking version of Summertime Blues, then took us right back to the beginning of rock with his Detroit Medley.

Then it was the Boss at what he does best with the anthemic Badlands ringing out to deafening screams.

After 40 minutes he was barely breaking a sweat as the unofficial American anthems of 2012, We Take Care of our Own and Wrecking Ball, had Adelaide taking part in a fist pumping singalong.

His energy was infectious, and his presence commanding — and you could close your eyes and imagine he was singing to just you but he inclusion of both Stevie Van Zandt and Tom Morello on this tour made sure that the distorted guitars filled every square inch of the arena.

With so many musicians on stage, the boss’s style was by no means cramped and all eyes were on the 64-year-old, who is in the prime of his life.

He relished in every scream of the fans and each sign paying tribute to the hits that have become the soundtrack to our lives, across five generations.

But The Boss clearly wasn’t content with his bandmates filling the arena and took to racing around it himself.

Giving fans an up close and personal experience, Springsteen traversed the auditorium throughout the night.

Shaking hands with fans who thought they were unlucky enough to be at the back, skolling a beer provided by a fan and even kissing one lucky lady.

As usual, even veteran fans who have seen the Boss many times were unsure where the set would go next.

Adelaide got to hear the ’90s era Bruce of Human Touch for the first time and a roaring version of Darlington County — which was sung predominantly to the audience behind the stage.

Springsteen shredded on the guitar, giving not only the fans but his fellow players goosebumps before launching into Prove it All Night and newbie This is Your Sword, which had all the charms of many songs its senior.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the night was when Springsteen grabbed a young boy out of the audience to sing Waitin’ on a Sunny Day — which drew a raucous response and ear to ear smiles from all who watched on.

The boy was triumphantly carried on Springsteen’s shoulders before the Boss announced: “There’s the future of rock”.

But things would only heat up from there.

The Ghost of Tom Joad became a highlight on the Wrecking Ball tour of last year and, one year on from the stirring rendition, which has just been released on his latest record, it hasn’t lost its charms.

Former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was unleashed in a show-stopping moment that displayed the exact point of two glorious rock worlds colliding before your eyes.

Finishing with a somewhat lukewarm cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell (sorry boys, but if Angus Young can make it tougher with just him and his brother on guitar — you should be able to nail it with three — or four) and a deafening singalong of the iconic Born to Run with the lights on.

But wait ... there’s more.

Dancing in the Dark followed as many tried their hand at being Courteney Cox down the front before Tenth Ave Freeze Out and a spine tingling acoustic of Thunder Road closed off more than three hours of pure showmanship.

The best thing is — we get to do it all over again Adelaide on Wednesday night, letting us once again bare witness to America’s greatest songwriter presenting arguably the best, most personable and uplifting rock show on earth.

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